8 FEBRUARY 21, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Public advocate election this Tuesday No ‘sole’ survivors
BY MARK HALLUM
MHALLUM@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
Payless ShoeSource is still
in trouble after filing
chapter 11 in April 2018 and
shuttering their Bell Boulevard
location with the announcement
that the retailer would liquidate
their assets in the U.S. by closing
all 2,100 stores.
Payless CEO W. Paul Jones
cited stiff competition from
e-commerce sites such as
Amazon when they last filed
bankruptcy saying they would
also close 400 stores in the
U.S. and Puerto Rico, but now
it seems only their foreign
brick-and-mortar locations will
remain in the coming months.
The footwear mainstay,
which has about 15 locations
in Queens, has about 4,000
locations worldwide and
while the company plans to
stick around until May, the
majority of stores will be out
of commission by the end
of March.
“Payless will begin liquidation
sales at its U.S. and Puerto
Rico stores on Feb. 17, 2019,
and is winding down its
e-commerce operations,” a
Payless spokeswoman said. “We
expect all stores to remain open
until at least the end of March
and the majority will remain
open until May. This process
does not affect the Company’s
franchise operations or its
Latin American stores, which
remain open for business
as usual.”
Payless began the liquidation
on Sunday by of fering
customers 20 percent off items
in-store.
Among the Payless locations
in the Ridgewood Times
coverage area include stores
on Fresh Pond Road and
Myrtle Avenue in Ridgewood,
at the Rego Center mall on
Junction Boulevard in Rego
Park, and on Jamaica Avenue
in Woodhaven.
Queens has not had an easy
year in retail this year with the
loss of the Rego Park Kohl’s as
well as the closure of Gymboree
in Glendale’s Atlas Park. In fact,
2018 was not much better with
Toys R Us going out of business,
closing its Rentar Plaza location
in Middle Village.
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
RPOZARYCKI@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@ROBBPOZ
One of the most wide-open races
in New York City history will
be decided on Feb. 26, as voters
head to the polls for the special election
to choose the next public advocate.
Seventeen candidates qualifi ed for
the ballot in the nonpartisan contest to
fi ll the seat vacated by State Attorney
General Letitia James, who resigned
on Dec. 31, 2018. Mayor Bill de Blasio
ordered the Feb. 26 special election,
which will determine who will occupy
the public advocate’s offi ce for the rest
of 2019; another election will be held
in November to determine who will
serve out the remainder of James’ public
advocate term, which expires in 2021.
Because it’s a nonpartisan race, none
of the political parties can nominate a
candidate, though they may choose
to endorse someone. Each of the 17
candidates had to secure their own
petitions and ballot lines with partyneutral
names like “For the People” or
“Equality for All” or “Community Strong.”
Many of these candidates’ campaigns
have received matching funds from the
city’s Campaign Finance Bureau.
The public advocate serves as the
city’s ombudsman, an offi cial designated
to be a link between city government
and the people it represents. The public
advocate is recognized as a non-voting
member of the City Council, but has
the authority to create and introduce
legislation.
Moreover, the public advocate is the
fi rst in the line of mayoral succession,
meaning that the public advocate would
become mayor should Bill de Blasio
vacate the offi ce.
Here’s the list of the candidates in
order of their ballot position (their
ballot names are in parentheses):
• Former City Council Speaker
Melissa Mark-Viverito (Fix the MTA)
• Assemblyman Michael Blake (For
the People)
• Attorney Dawn Smalls (No More
Delays)
• City Councilman Eric Ulrich
(Common Sense)
• City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez
(Unite Immigrants)
• Assemblyman Daniel J. O’Donnell
(Equality for All)
• City Councilman Rafael Espinal
(Livable City)
File photo
• Assemblywoman Latrice Walker
(Power Forward)
• City Councilman Jumaane Williams
(It’s Time Let’s Go)
• Assemblyman Ron Kim (No
Amazon)
• Coding and civics teacher Benjamin
Yee (Community Strong)
• Attorney Manny Alicandro (Better
Leaders)
• Investigative journalist Nomiki
Konst (Pay Folks More)
• History professor and author David
Eisenbach (Stop REBNY)
• Attorney Jared Rich (Jared Rich for
NYC)
• Community consultant Anthony
Tony Herbert (Residents First)
• Helal A. Sheikh (Friends of Helal)
Polls are open on Feb. 26 from 6 a.m.
to 9 p.m. to all valid registered voters.
Assemblyman Mike Miller
recently sponsored his 2nd
Annual Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. Contest for students at
P.S. 97, The Forest Park School in
Woodhaven.
This year the essay contest occurred
during the school’s “Respect for All
Week,” which align with Martin Luther
King, Jr.’s legacy.
Four winners were chosen by
Assemblyman Mike Miller and each
received a gift card. “Honoring Martin
Luther King Jr. during Respect for All
Week teaches students not only to
treat each other with the dignity and
respect they deserve, but also to refl ect
on the freedom fi ghters that fought
for equal rights in our school system,”
Miller said.
The assemblyman thanked the
3rd, 4th and 5th grade students who
submitted essays on Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr., as well as Amelia Joseph, the
parent coordinator for P.S. 97, who
organized this year’s essay contest. Photo courtesy of Assemblyman Mike Miller
as Payless shuts
down entire chain
Young writers in Woodhaven honored for MLK essays
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
link
link
link
